Source: Hetq.amBy Kristine AghalaryanOut of sight, out of mind…It’s sort of a mantra in Armenia, especially among government agencies. Take the case of the Ministry of Environemnt and its attitude to an endangered African bonobo monkey that recently showed up as an attraction in a local restaurant. Hetq broke the story on November 28, when we attempted the follow the trail of how a bonobo made it to the newly opened Jambo Park in Kotayk Province. Native to the Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the species was listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List in 1996, and is threatened by habitat destruction and human population growth. The export, sale or transport of rare animals is regulated by the CITES (the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which Armenia signed on to in 2009. In Armenia, the Ministry of Nature Protection (MNP) is tasked with seeing that the obligations of the convention are adhered to. But it seems that the MNP isn’t losing any sleep over the Jambo Park bonobo or interested in how it got to Armenia. Artyom Vardanyan, the owner of Jambo Park, claims he purchased the monkey legally. When we pressed Vardanyan on the matter, he directed us to Artur Khachatryan, from whom he allegedly “leased” the animal. Khachatryan claims the monkey wasn’t taken from the wild but was captive bred In Guinea. Our colleagues in Guinea now tell us that there is no such facility in Guinea. So what was the response of the MNP to our inquiry? Basically – out of sight, out of mind…The MNP states that it had never received a claim to import monkeys into Armenia and that it has never issued any such permits. In particular, the ministry claims it never received a filing to have our bonobo and four other chimpanzee species to be registered in the CITES accounts. More....

Source: Ecolur.orgBy Arthur HovhannisyanAs Bardukh Gabrielyan, Dr. in Biological Sciences, Director of Zoology and Hydroecology Center of NAS RA, assures it’s too early to speak about the availability of industrial reserves of the trout in Lake Sevan or to take this species out of the Red Book. Bardukh Gabrielyan said, “Unfortunately, the self-recovery of the trout reserves doesn’t take place, i.e. their natural reproduction is in poor condition. The first reason is naturally fish poaching.” The other reason is the poor condition of the rivers, which are spawning sites, as the most river are currently either polluted or the water intake exceeds the permissible standards, as some SHPPs don’t follow the standards they have to.

Source: Hetq.amBy Kristine AghalaryanArmenia now enjoys the dubious distinction of being a transit nation for endangered animals. These animals, from exotic African varieties listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species to those native to Indonesia, are being trafficked through Armenia without difficulty. The sale of proscribed animals is the 4th most profitable illegal business worldwide, following drug trafficking, human trafficking, and fraud. And the illegal trade of animals continues to grow yearly, and is now regarded as a major component of overall international crime. Some of the animals brought to Armenia remain in the country. Some are used as "attractions" at various businesses, like the street hawkers of old, to pul in customers. Some wind up as pets in the homes of Armenia's rich or wannabee-rich, to impress the neighbors or to add a touch of "class". The animal seen in the accompanying photos is the bonobo, (Pan Paniscus), formerly called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often, the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee. Native to the Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the species was listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List in 1996, and is threatened by habitat destruction and human population growth. The sale and export of the animal is banned in the DRC. Despite the ban, an animal resembling the bonobo has turned up in Armenia. The animal can be seen caged in the newly opened Jambo Park located in Dzoragbyur, a town in Kotayk Province. The “exotic park” is part of a restaurant complex that opened this past September. It’s the brainchild of Artyom Vardanyan, a businessman who relocated to Armenia, who likes to show off the rare animals in his collection.Illegal poaching is the main culprit, along with habitat destruction. The civil wars that racked the DCR in the 1990s and the ensuing lack of adequate conservation oversight opened the door to greater poaching on an organized level. The threats facing native stocks of bonobo grew to the point that the ICUN adopted a 2012-2022 conservation strategy for preserving the species. More....

Source: Ecolur.orgArmenia is a country with few water resources. We have over 70 water reservoirs and a powerful pumping station, which doesn’t operate. Our water resources are undermines quantitatively. This is the situation of the water resources in Armenia as assessed by Qnarik Hovhannisyan at the public discussion of “Problems of Lake Sevan and Probable Ways of Their Development”. It should be mentioned that the artificial water reservoirs contain up to 1 billion m3 freshwater. While Lake Sevan, is a natural water resource, and contains 35 billion m3 freshwater, which ensures the country safety. The conservation of Lake Sevan is a strategic issue, as it also ensures food security. Nevertheless, the industrial reserves in Lake Sevan have already disappeared. Thus, the whitefish reserves have reduced 5000 times in the duration of recent 20 years and now, under the data of the Institute of Hydroecology of NAS RA, it makes up only 6.5-8 tons. What about the endemic fish species of Lake Sevan, the trout, the fish can’t spawn under natural conditions because of the SHPPs constructed on the rivers flowing into Lake Sevan, so the trout populations is recovered in artificial way through letting out artificially grown young fish into the lake. “If trout young fish isn’t let out into the lake, it will disappear, as its spawning sites are inaccessible for the fish,” said Susanna Hakobyan, Head of Department of Hydrobiology of Institute of Hydroecology and Ichthyology of NAS RA. The main reason for the reduction of fish reserves remains fish poaching. This is how “Sevan” National Park Deputy Director Vahe Gulanyan commented the situation, “Since 2005 the fishing of the whitefish is banned, nevertheless, it’s physically impossible to control it irregardless of the legislative field.” More....

Source : Ecolur.orgPoaching cases have been detected in the “Khor Virap” Reserve of Khosrov Forest. The inspectors of “Khor Virap” Reserve and Khosrov Forest have confiscated 5 fishing nets, 17 hooks and fishing screen from a territory of 50 ha, and they have drawn up a protocol in this regard. The confiscated fishing facilities together with the protocols were sent to the Territorial Division of the State Environmental Inspection of Nature Protection Ministry. This information is advised by Public Relations Department of Nature Protection Ministry

Source: Ecolur.orgAccording to the police, the person guilty of the poaching of red-listed animals in Kaqavaberd section in Khosrov reserve has been detected. This person turned out to be 29-year-old Garni villager Norik Sargsyan. He said that he had put a trap and snare not far from Kaqavaberd section. He trapped a bear and snared a bezoar goat. During the search a double-barrelled gun and a carabine were detected at N. Sargsyan’s place. Riminder: the Artashat division of the police has initiated a criminal case over the poaching in “Khosrov Forest” reserve. Under the police, unknown people reported about poaching in Kaqavaberd section on 25 September. The case has been initiated on the grounds of Article 294 (1) of the Criminal Cade of Armenia.

Sourc: Ecolur.orgKaqavaberd section is one of the weakest places in Khosrov Forest, as it has many pathways through which the poachers can get into the reserve. This is what WWF – Armenia Head Karen Manvelyan’s letter says in reply to the application by the Public Environmental Alliance to apply all the leverages the WWF has to stop the poaching in “ Khosrov Forest ” State Reserve. The fund intends to investigate this case of poaching presented by “Khosrov Reserve” civic initiative and to determine those, who should bear liability. Nevertheless, under the information EcoLur has, Nature Protection Ministry has already determined the “weak point” still before the incident in Khosrov. And now the Ministry is expecting for the candidate who will be ousted, according to hearsay.

Source: Ecolur.orgIn “Khosrov Foresr” State Reserve young activists have detected traces of poachers. They have shot what they saw with photo and video cameras and on behalf of “Khosrov Forest” civic initiative disseminated a press release supporting it with photos and video report (photos by Yeghia Nersisyan, video report in teghutsave webpage on Youtube). The press release particularly says, “We visited “Khosrov Forest” Reserve on 18 September in the section of “Kaqavaberd”. There we saw traces of a fire, remainders of garbage from barbecues, empty vodka bottles. There we could also see the remainders of slaughtered animals and facilities like ropes ties to the tree etc. The smell was terrible. The shot photos and videos clearly show that red-listed animals had been hunted…Based on the materials we can judge that the “guests” felt like at home, spent there much time with silent agreement of the reserve, or even it’s not excluded with immediate participation of the administration with the permission of Nature Protection Ministry. In our opinion, if the reserve director will be fired, this won’t solve this problem, as the main responsibility vests on Nature Protection Ministry represented by Minister. Either Minister’s powers are too weak or whatever is going on is done with his permission. Our video report show cadres where the Minister states that nobody can get into the reserves without his permission,” the statement says. Video.

Source: Ecolur.orgBy Siranuysh GevorgyanEnvironmentalists in Armenia are concerned over the continuing poaching of animals that must be protected by the State. Meanwhile, those in charge of the sphere give assurances that poaching cases in the country have been decreasing from year to year. They also say that Armenia remains committed to protecting animals that are in the Red Book of endangered species.

In an interview with ArmeniaNow, Aram Aghasyan, head of the Department of Preserves of the Environment Ministry’s Bioresources Management Agency, said that cases of poaching in reserves are “few and far between”. He explained it by the fact that measures have been taken in recent years to enhance the protection regime in such areas, including the recruitment of more personnel, provision of vehicles, fuel is provided, the territories are fitted out with modern guard equipment, etc..

But environmentalists still insist that unlike in reserves in national parks and reservations poaching cases occur more frequently. And in areas that are not specially protected it is easier to catch animals whose hunting is prohibited. Every month the Environment Ministry publishes the results of the State Environmental Inspection’s checkups that on the average record 5-6 cases of illegal hunting a month. Most of them are connected with the poaching of fish and crab. According to the data for the first six months of this year, 71 violations were revealed (79 during the same period of 2010).

Quite recently, near the town of Kapan in Armenia’s southern Syunik province two Bezoar goats (ibex) were killed. Police arrested three persons suspected of poaching and killing the animals that are included in the Red Book. One of the three confessed to killing the goats with an illegally kept rifle. According to a police statement, damage of about 6 million drams (some ,000) had been caused to the state.

The fine for hunting the Bezoar goat and Armenian mouflon (sheep) that are entered into the Red Data Book of Armenia is 3 million drams (about ,000) and for hunting the Caucasian gray bear is 1 million drams (about ,700). The amount of the fine is increased fivefold if the poaching is committed in specially protected areas. More....

Source: Ecolur.orgNature Protection Ministry “Sevan National Park” Director Ashot Gndoyan doesn’t deny the fact of fish poaching in Lake Sevan at the same time denying information fish poachers pay him 30,000 AMD as a bribe. ‘I would be very glad, if Sevan had so much fish that 300 fishermen group poached and bribed me. This means Sevan should have has I don’t know how much fish, but, unfortunately, there is no so much fish. I would like Sevan to have so much fish as stated,” Gndoyan said.

Source: Ecolur.orgThe problem of poaching in Armenia is still unresolved. "We come across this phenomenon all over Armenia", Head of WWF-Armenian Karen Manvelyan said to ArmInfo.

The expert said that the WWF's proposal to create environmental police in Armenia is left without any attention. As regards the Environmental Inspection, its resources are insufficient: it is enough to say that there are only 5 inspectors for the whole Syunik region. Manvelyan pointed out that this problem should be solved at the state level. "We can provide only technical support. For instance, in 2009 three inspectorates were provided cars, uniforms, and binoculars. But it is the state that must improve the inspection in all regions. Inspectorates should have offices, cars, petroleum, high salaries. This is a quite hard work, and it can be done if desired", he said.

According to Manvelyan, creation of a network of protected areas at the south of Armenia has become an effective method to fight poaching. The protected areas are: Arevik national park, Zangezur wildlife sanctuary, and Shikahogh reserve. Moreover, work at creation of Khustup sanctuary is being done. "Over the past 5-10 years the level of poaching at the south has considerably declined. The employees of the protected areas cooperate with the Environmental Inspection, a good team has been set up, which works quite effectively", said Manvelyan.

Manvelyan expressed hope that the situation will change for the better in other regions as well. "I wish new protected areas were created and the Environmental Inspection worked more effectively. It is impossible to fight poaching without cooperation or partnership. The local communities, regional structures, NGOs and the mass media should support this", he stressed.

Russian approval of sanctions against Iran may have chilled relations between the two countries, but there is still enough room left for diplomacy to swing a cat. Iran plans to send a pair of Caucasus leopards to Russia to help efforts to repopulate the big cats in the Caucasus area. Hunting and poaching have brought the Caucasus leopard to the brink of extinction; environmentalists rejoice at every occasional sighting of the animal in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. Some claim that the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh has also got in the way of the leopards’ migration routes. The Iranian gift will be placed in the Russian city of Sochi's zoo. Russia plans to start dispersing the cats on the northern flanks of the Caucasus ridge, hoping that the leopards will spread throughout the Caucasus area. Russia, in turn, is helping Iran restore the population of tigers in its northern province of Mazandaran.

Source: Ecolur.orgA press-conference was held at “Armat” Club dedicated to the issue of poaching in Armenia. Read below the articles published on this topic.Expert: Enlargement of fine size ineffective tool for combating poaching Arka

He said, in particular, that no case of illegal hunting has been registered in Khostov reservation. He also added that today the relevant territories are guarded rather effectively, as the conditions of the relevant services have been improved much, and salary of employees of these services has been increased. He also said that poaching cases has sharply decreased outside of the guarded territories as well.

At the same time, as the head of WWF-Armenia Karen Manvelyan reiterated many times, the poaching problem is still relevant today. For instance, 1-2 leopards are killed by poachers in Armenia every year. The WWF has been implementing the programme on protection these animals since 2002, but they are still hunted outside the guarded territories. Leopard is not the only 'IUCN Red List' victim of poachers. Every year ecologists fix cases of hunting mouflons and Persian wild goats. Incidentally, it is not for the first year that local and international organizations are trying to draw the attention of Armenian Nature Protection Ministry to the fact that announcements are placed at various web sites about the hunt tours in Armenia to hunt the animals involved in IUCN Red List, for instance - www.safariinternational.com, which openly invites to hunt mouflons and Persian wild goats, which cost 7900 - 8900 EUR. FAUNA SAFITY: OFFICIALS SAY POACHING CASES DECREASED IN ARMENIA Siranuysh Gevorgyan, ArmeniaNow

Armenia’s Nature Protection Ministry states that cases of poaching have decreased in Armenia within recent years as a result of stricter inspection control and high fines.

“Rare cases of poaching were registered last year; four cases were registered in Khosrov Forest State Preserve,” says Aram Aghasyan, head of the department of special protected areas, Bioresources Management Agency under the Ministry of Nature Protection, at a press conference today, April 1. More....

Armenia’s Ministry of Nature Protection is going to submit a new edition of the Red Book of Endangered Species to the government for approval, hoping that the amended version of the book published still in Soviet times will help better promote biodiversity in more contemporary conditions.

(The Red Book of Endangered Species is an inventory of the conservation status of plant and animal species to help the government and civil society take necessary environmental action.)

“The approval of the new edition will promote a more effective protection of biodiversity and improvement of reproduction, will ensure control over species included in the Red Book and reduction of illegal action against them,” says Tatyana Danielyan, head of the Department of Biodiversity and Water Resource Protection at the Ministry.

Currently, Armenia applies the Armenia SSR Red Book published still in 1989-90, a year before the Soviet state collapsed and independent Armenia was established. This book involves 387 rare species [or species on the brink of extinction\ of plants and 99 species of spinal animals.

The socio-economic changes that have taken place in Armenia in the past several years have had a negative impact on the country’s ecology, including plant and animal life. A number of valuable and endemic species have found themselves on the verge of extinction, their natural environments have degraded and habitats have shrunk. The quantitative and qualitative composition of animal populations have undergone changes.Nature Protection Minister Aram Harutyunyan says that a complex study on the country’s biodiversity, an assessment of the situation in accordance with international criteria and a new edition of the Red Book to organize the protection of species have therefore become an urgent necessity. More....

Source: Ecolur.orgThe hunt for the animals registered in the Red Book in Armenia is not just a pastime, but serious business. Armenian Mouflon Sheep and Bezoar Ibexes are particularly famous. Potential hunters are willing to pay from 5 to 7 thousand Euros for each killed animal.

If to take into consideration other expenses these hunters run up for their accommodation in Armenia, one may say that poaching is a new type of tourism flourishing in Armenia. More new international websites substantiate this fact by inviting to hunt in Armenia for the animals registered in the Red Book. The websites display photos of successful hunters with their trophies. The reality is much more scaring: these are dismembered animal carcasses which are shred; horns cut off to decorate their lodgings (see photo report). These photos will hardly be displayed in the advertisements of Safari International, Ararat Safari, Ibex Hunt Club, Hunt in Europe and other still unknown hunting organizations.

Parallel to advertisements the Ministry of Nature Protection receives applications on arranging households dealing with the support of these animals, for example, additional nutrition. You have got the impression the issue of Bezoar goats and Mouflon sheep conservation is not poaching, but the lack of grass in the alpine meadows. EcoLur applied for comments to the specialists of World Wildlife Fund Armenia. According to the observations made by Alexander Malkhasyan, the Expert of WWF Armenia, who carried out an investigation in Syunik, he on his own registered more than 40 cases of illegal hunting prevalently in the border territories of the Meghri and Zangezour Mountain Ranges only during the last year and a half. In all the cases an alarm was given. “Poachers are very difficult to stop. They have their own people everywhere, even in those bodies designed for fight against poaching. We can only guess who exactly warn the poacher about the roundup and the measures to be taken are kept secret. Only then we are able to do anything, for example, this year we managed to stop 4 poachers,” Malkhasyan said.

Head of WWF Armenia Karen Manvelyan thinks that poaching is the most important scourge in the conservation of red-booked animals. The population of Armenian Mouflon sheep, only 250 head, is under the danger of complete extinction. “This number is already not sufficient for the normal recruitment of the population, not to speak about its development,” Manvelyan thinks. When Head of WWF Armenia Karen Manvelyan was asked what to do, he replied, “There is a solution. First of all, we need to develop the chain of protected areas where special projects can be implemented. An example of this is the government decision on founding “Zangezour” and “Arevik” Wildlife Preserves in Syunik which is the most perspective region for the conservation of red-booked animals. Our experience also allowed us to work out certain mechanisms for the fight against poachers. We won’t reveal these mechanisms, but I think that the outcomes will be appreciable in several months.”